This book answers the question of how to manage service robots in brick-and-mortar dominated retail service systems to allow for key stakeholders’ adoption and to foster value co-creation. It starts by demonstrating the scientific relevance of the topic as well as deriving a set of promising research questions. After introducing service-dominant logic as a theoretical research lens and elucidating service systems along with their underlying concept of value co-creation as relevant key concepts, five studies are presented. The author ́s findings show that understanding and differentiating between consensus, shared and idiosyncratic drivers of and barriers to the adoption of service robots in retail service systems by all key stakeholders, i.e. customers, frontstage employees, and retail managers, is crucial to be able to fully cope with the complexity inherent in the adoption of service robots in service organizations. Moreover, the designed and evaluated artifact fosters a paradigm shift from a one-time technology introduction to a continuous technology management approach including iterations of experimenting, piloting, and implementing.

The book includes new theory, original empirical evidence, and applied case studies synthesizing advances in innovation and technology for the retail sector. Chapters identify the challenges retailers face in response to new practices, suggesting how the sector can respond to technological developments, ethical considerations and privacy issues.

This book aims at sharing knowledge about the technological opportunities and the main research challenges regarding robotics for logistics in supermarkets and retail stores, from the perspectives of the end-users, logistic companies, technology providers, and robotic researchers. The authors have been involved into the H2020 project Robotics Enabling Fully Integrated Logistics Lines for Supermarkets (REFILLS), aimed at improving logistics in supermarkets thanks to mobile robotic systems in close and smart collaboration with humans. The readers will find a comprehensive analysis of the main logistic processes in retail stores with possible robotized solutions, involving mechanical design, perception, and control. These technologies have been validated in realistic environments, and some of them have been tested into real supermarkets. The book is intended for a broad academic and industrial readership, including operators in the field of logistics, distribution, and retail.

THE REAL THING by Isaac Asimov Back in 1939, when I was still a teenager, I began to write (and publish) a series of stories about robots which, for the first time in science fiction, were pictured as having been deliberately engineered to do their job safely. They were not intended to be creaky Gothic menaces, nor outlets for mawkish sentiment. They were simply well-designed machines. Beginning in 1942, I crystallized this notion in what I called 'The Three Laws of Robotics' and, in 1950, nine of my robot stories were collected into a book, I, Robot. I did not at that time seriously believe that I would live to see robots in action and robotics becoming a booming industry .... Yet here we are, better yet, I am alive to see it. But then, why shouldn't they be with us? Robots fulfil an important role in industry. They do simple and repetitive jobs more steadily, more reliably, and more uncomplainingly than a human being could - or should. Does a robot displace a human being? Certainly, but he does so at a job that, simply because a robot can do it, is beneath the dignity of a human being; a job that is no more than mindless drudgery. Better and more human jobs can be found for human beings - and should.

In this book a comprehensive coverage of major retailing topics and contemporary issues in retailing and branding is given, including many cases and practical examples. Besides introducing the topic strategic planning in retailing and fundamentals in the fields of the marketing mix in retailing, this book builds on e-tailing and digitalization. Moreover, trends and developments in consumer behavior and consumers’ purchase decisions, especially in the fast moving consumer goods market, are explained. Furthermore, this book builds on the major topic strategic brand management and branding decisions in general and in particular within the retail landscape.

This proceedings volume convenes peer-reviewed, selected papers presented at the XXVIII International Joint Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IJCIEOM) that was held in Mexico City, Mexico, July 17-20, 2022, with a special focus on applications of industrial engineering and operations management for research and practice. Fields covered include operations, manufacturing, industrial and production engineering and management, emphasizing optimization models and data science applications to real-world problems. In this book, the reader will find works on topics as optimization models; stochastic optimization; digital transformation in the supply chain; data science applications in operations management; Industry 4.0: manufacturing planning & control; blockchain; intelligent transportation systems; sustainable and reverse logistics; big data and demand planning; predictive and prescriptive analytics; last-mile delivery optimization; stochastic inventory models; new trends in information technology for operation management; stochastic optimization; optimization models for omnichannel; safety in operation management; and more. This volume includes relevant information for academics, since most of the chapters focus on real-world case studies and systematic reviews, but also for professionals in the industrial sector as it presents solutions to complex industrial challenges. Previous 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 IJCIEOM proceedings can also be found in Springer's catalog.

The book discusses the whole gamut of retail management emphasizing the changing retail environment in Indian and International context for conceptual clarity and mastery of retailing by the modern readers. It offers experiential learning through contextual case studies to render a better understanding of each functional area of retail management. Various aspects of retail management at the introductory level have been covered and explained lucidly, supported with examples, illustration and photographs to enable students to comprehend the subject matter with ease. The objective of the book is to give hands-on experience and learning of global retail practices to the students of management studies. Key Features • Thorough coverage of retailing in modern context, including e-retailing • Case-studies, caselets and examples to make students industry-ready • Bullet-point approach for key topics to highlight important information • Graphics to generate students’ interest and make learning easy Target Audience • MBA, PGDM and PGPBA • Marketing professionals and trainers